Sept. 11, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s soccer team jumped into the top 20 for the first time in all for soccer polls released Tuesday. The Gamecocks remain at No. 13 in Soccer America and achieve new school bests in the NSCAA/adidas rankings, Soccer Buzz and Soccer Times polls.

Carolina (4-0) improves four spots to No. 15 in Soccer Times, six spots to No. 16 in the NSCAA/adidas coaches poll and one spot to No. 20 in Soccer Buzz after defeating UC Davis and UNLV last week at the UCF Tournament. In addition, the Gamecocks hold steady at No. 4 in the Southeast regional poll.

The Gamecocks are off to the first 4-0 start in school history. Sophomore defender Blakely Mattern earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors this week after also being named Defensive MVP at the UCF Tournament over the weekend. Mattern becomes the second Gamecock in as many weeks to earn SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors as senior goalkeeper Lindsay Thorstenson took home the honor the previous week after recording a shutout against then-No. 1 North Carolina in the season opener.

The No. 13 Gamecocks return to action Wednesday when they host Winthrop at 7 p.m. The first 100 fans will receive a Carolina Soccer keychain, and all youth under 18 will be admitted free with a paying adult. Live stats and the audio broadcast can be heard at www.gamecocksonline.com.